The Words of Friends
by starjade83
Summary: One shot: Natsu and Lucy are on the hunt for the disbanded Fairy Tail members but certain secrets and feelings come out during their travels. Can these two friends mend what was broken by Tartarus and a year's separation? Set after chapter 419 and contains spoilers.


*AN: Fairy Tail does not belong to me; any and all characters are based off of Hiro Mashima's manga.

** This story takes place after chapter 419 as Natsu and Lucy and Happy are traveling to re-band Fairy Tail.

*** This is my FIRST ever fanfiction. Please be kind in the reviews.

Lucy was feeling a myriad of emotions as they left Crocus far behind. The joy of having her two best friends back, mixed with the turmoil of the past year left a bittersweet taste in her mouth. She was undeniably happy as they set out on their new mission, yet apprehensive at the same time. Nobody had contacted Lucy the entire year and now they were off to reunite everyone? Would they want to rejoin Fairy Tail once again? What if they had moved on, joined other guilds or just simply didn't want to see her. These thoughts had plagued her all year and even the advent of Natsu and Happy's return couldn't make them disappear as they swirled through her head.

"Lucy, what's with the face?"

Natsu was as perceptive as ever, thought Lucy. Can't hide anything from him.

"Oh nothing, just thinking about the guild." She hoped that her response would satisfy him.

It seemed good enough as he gave her his iconic gigantic smile and said, "You're excited too right?! Let's keep moving!"

Lucy let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding as they continued walking. She had previously let slip her true feelings before they left Crocus but she had decided to not hold it over his head. She really did believe that both Natsu and Happy must have had a good reason for leaving. Moving forward was the right thing to do.

It wasn't for another four days that moving forward suddenly screamed to a halt.

They had made camp for the night in a little wooded area beside a slow-moving river. Its' path wound lazily through the forest giving a calm and soothing effect to the guild mates as they made their fire and set up their bed rolls. Happy was quite content to spend time in the river looking for fish and exclaiming hungrily every time one got away. Lucy watched from beside the fire, a smile spreading over her face as she recalled many similar times from the past. She had her old team together, a reality that she was unsure would ever materialize in the future. Allowing herself to truly believe the worst was behind her, Lucy laid back on her elbows and relaxed; truly relaxed. Perhaps this was why Natsu's next comment slammed her so hard.

"Hey Luce, you should summon some of your spirits! I haven't seen them in ages! Are they all doing alright? I bet you've been training hard with them."

She felt like Natsu's simple question had instead been a punch to the gut. Without saying anything, Lucy got up and started to walk away from the camp. What started out as slow walk turned into a jog, then a run, then a full out sprint. She heart Natsu shouting for her but she ignored it. She hadn't cried about Aquarius for a long time, had felt like she had accepted the awful truth that she wouldn't be seeing her again but she had forgotten that Natsu didn't know. How could he know? He didn't even know about Fairy Tail disbanding. The tears were cool as they fell on her face as she ran. Eventually she found herself at a small vista overlooking the lazy river. She sat down and let the tears fall.

Lucy didn't know how much time had passed but she couldn't help but hear the sound of Natsu's footsteps approaching from behind. They were slow and careful. Natsu knew he had said something very wrong.

"Lucy."

She stayed looking out over the river.

"Lucy, I…"

"Natsu…something happened during our battle with Tartarus that I never told anyone. I never said a word because so many people were grieving or in pain and I didn't want to add to that. Y..you were so…torn up over Igneel, I…"

The tears were falling freely but the words were hard to say.

From behind her Natsu said softly, "Will you please tell me what happened?"

Gathering up her courage Lucy continued, "When Algeria was cast, everyone but me was immobilized. I had to fight a couple of the demons by myself so I summoned Virgo and Loke. We were taking so much damage and it started to get desperate…." Lucy had to stop for a moment. By this point Natsu had made his way to Lucy and sat down beside her. He was regarding her with concern and worry. He hadn't heard any of this. Not wanting Lucy to stop talking he patiently waited and remained quiet.

Seeing that Natsu wasn't going to push her, she decided to go on.

"I…I was losing. Virgo and Loke were taking so much damage. Another demon showed up, Torafusa, and threw me into the water. I had no choice. I knew Virgo and Loke didn't want me to do it but I…I had no choice, I…summoned…A-Aquarius…"

Lucy knew Natsu was shocked to hear that she had summoned three Zodiac spirits at once. At one time, she would have been proud of this achievement. Not now. Not after losing her. At this point she was feeling so overwhelmed with recalling the story, that she slowly stood up and walked over to a tree. Leaning against it, not facing him, she continued.

"I was losing magic power fast, Aquarius was doing her best but Torafusa was able to swim in her water. Virgo and Loke took damage and had to return to the spirit world and Aquarius had also taken some damage. She was only able to keep them at bay. She….told me…that if I could open three gates, then I could summon the Spirit King. But in order to d-do that, I had to s-sacrifice a key to do it…"

Lucy's eyes were red and puffy but the tears had long stopped. She was looking up at the night sky, at the only version of Aquarius that she could see. She heard Natsu approach from behind but turned around before he got there. All her loneliness, her rage, her sadness, fear and despair were bubbling up from within her. She started to let it out.

"Y-you left and I was in pain. I lost my oldest friend that day and nobody knew. Her sacrifice saved everyone. I know you lost someone as well and I don't necessarily blame you for running away but everyone else left me too! I was left alone to deal with her loss with no comfort. I have lost so many people in my life; my mother, my father, my only tie with my mother and for a while I lost you…I…was…so….lonely…."

Lucy knew she was making Natsu feel bad. She could see it in his face; could see the depth to which her despair hurt him. She hadn't wanted this. She collapsed to the ground, ashamed of her outburst. She buried her face in her hands.

Without warning, a pair of hands gently pried her hands off of her face and set them in her lap. Natsu was sitting on the ground in front of her. He slowly placed his hands on her face and she felt her sadness lessen. As she looked up at that him, into those eyes that seemed to burn with life, she saw everything that Natsu was feeling. He then wrapped his arms around her and held her close. After a time, he spoke.

"I am so sorry Lucy. I…I should have…asked you how you were, I should have known that you weren't ok. I…was foolish to leave without seeing you. Not that this makes it any better but, I wanted to become stronger; if I was stronger I could have protected the guild, I could have protected Aquarius…I could have…protected I-Igneel…."

Natsu had stopped talking. Lucy knew how much Igneel's death must still haunt him. But she was not expecting what he said next.

"But, Igneel chose his path and he helped me see mine. What I didn't realize was that my path hurt yours and for that, Lucy, I am truly sorry."

With those words Lucy felt as though a weight had been lifted. She could feel a smile start to spread across her face and though it wasn't as wide as Natsu's, she felt better. She started to rise when Natsu grabbed her and pulled her in close. In a voice no louder than a whisper he said, "I won't ever do that to you again, I promise."

She wasn't sure how long they stayed at that overlook but by the time they got back to camp Happy was fast asleep. They said goodnight to one another and got into their bedrolls. As they lay on the ground, looking up, Natsu spoke in a soft voice that Lucy didn't know he had, "Goodnight Aquarius, thank you for saving all of us and thank you for Lucy."

She might not be completely healed, but Lucy knew that she wasn't alone anymore.


End file.
